vanityとは

意味・読み方・使い方

語源

va(i)n +‎ -ity, from Middle English vanite, borrowed from Old French vanité, from Latin vānitas, from vānus, whence English vain. Doublet of vanitas.

発音

• IPA^(key): /ˈvæ.nɪ.ti/

名詞

vanity (countable かつ uncountable, 複数形 vanities)

1. That which is vain, futile, or worthless; that which is of no value, use or profit.
   • 1611, “Ecclesiastes 2:15-16”, in The King James Bible:

     Then I said in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me and why then was I more wise? Then I said in my heart that this is also vanity.
     For there is no more remembrance of the wise than the fool forever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.

2. Excessive pride in or admiration of one's own abilities, appearance or achievements.
3. A dressing table used to apply makeup, preen, and coif hair. The table is normally quite low and similar to a desk, with drawers and one or more mirrors on top. Either a chair or bench is used to sit upon.
4. A washbasin installed into a permanently fixed storage unit, used as an item of bathroom furniture.
5. Emptiness. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
6. (obsolete) Any idea, theory or statement that is without foundation.

   It is a vanity to say that if two stones are dropped from a tower, the heavier will experience the greater acceleration.

   • 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum, Or, A Naturall Historie: In Ten Centuries

     To help the matter, the alchemists call in likewise many vanities out of astrology.

同意語

• conceit
• egotism
• narcissism
• pride
• See also Thesaurus:arrogance

派生語

• vanity case
• vanity item

関連する語

• vain

Further reading

• vanity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• vanity in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911